Hotel Riu Papayas 4*

We've stayed at the Hotel Riu Papayas many times over the last few years. We stayed here this time for 14 nights this time, the hotel is all inclusive. As a summary, we like the hotel, it has a good feel to it in general. It's a very busy & often full occupancy hotel, which must be a great plus for Riu Hotels & Resorts. The cleanliness of the hotel everywhere is exceptional. The food is always good and the staff are helpful and friendly. Nice spacious room & bathroom. Overall a good hotel, great location and good food, lots of options at the buffet for a 4 star Hotel. The two Restaurants (Olé & Zhu) are a nice touch too if you're bored of the buffet (you can book these on the Riu App or at reception during your stay) These two restaurants DESPERATELY require some music playing low, they need some ambience. The fridge in the rooms & the free safe are a great plus (all rooms could do with an Iron and Ironing board as standard) There are a few negatives to this hotel. One is the gym (the opening hours have finally been improved to stay open until 9pm which is great, however... it's still a large space that requires more gym equipment for the size of the hotel (a multi gym) the size of the gym room/space can easily accommodate this. Dunas lounge bar should be open until midnight. Plunging guests into complete darkness at 11pm is quite frankly unacceptable & downright rude. Plus there are no bar snacks or peanuts or crisps to snack on when you're having a drink, this is very strange & snacks should be offered with a drink (self service of course) Housekeeping are exceptional, however the noise they make in the floors/hallways in the morning is so LOUD! if you want to sleep in, then you can't. The hallways are tiled and so very very noisy and this echoes into the room easily. When this hotel is renovated they should add an additional second door onto the rooms between the bathroom and bedroom to stop this travel of noise. Here are my pointers both positive ✅️ & negative ❌️ Great ✅️ ✅️ Exceptionally Clean throughout. ✅️ Great Housekeeping (Everything is always restocked & cleaned) ✅️ Large rooms ✅️ Comfortable beds ✅️ Great breakfast ✅️ Good food selection ✅️ Good bar service and great drinks ✅️ Alejandro (Manager) on Reception is exceptional ✅️ Good Gym/Fitness centre (needs a few additions) ✅️ Good Pool ✅️ Great location ✅️ Pool towels ✅️ Good WiFi ✅️ Great Air Conditioning ✅️ Lovely atmosphere throughout ✅️ A great 4 star rated option ✅️ Great value overall ✅️ Dining options of main Buffet & additional restaurants ✅️ Safe in room included ✅️ Fridge in the room ✅️ Near the beach ✅️ By the shops ✅️ The general manager is great, friendly & proactive Needs improvement ❌️ Bathrooms linens/towels are very worn & old ❌️ No Irons ❌️ Very noisy corridors, the noise of Housekeeping and screaming children travel right into the rooms. ❌️ Gym desperately requires an addition of a multi gym and some additional equipment. A large room but not filled to capacity with equipment. ❌️ Pepe's snack bar isn't great, requires a larger selection, pizza's etc. ❌️ 24 all inclusive offering is "questionable" the offering is extremely minimal. ❌️ No peanuts/bar snacks or ambient snacks are available with a drink. ❌️ Dunas lounge bar should be open until midnight. Plunging guests into complete darkness at 11pm is quite frankly unacceptable & rude. ❌️ Sun Parasols should be added to ALL roof top sunbathing areas. ❌️ Olé & Zhu need some low music playing to create some kind of ambience within the restaurants. ❌️ Olé desperately requires a vegetarian main dish added to the main course menu options. Top Tips... Bring a travel Iron if you require one as the hotel doesn't have any irons for use at all.

My friend and I stayed at the Riu Papayas in November 2026 while attending the Freedom Pride festival at the Yumbo Centre, and we had a fantastic stay. The hotel was lovely and clean, the food was out of this world, and the pool was kept exceptionally clean. The staff were fantastic, and the entertainment team were brilliant. My only reservation was being on a high floor with glass balconies, but that’s purely a personal preference. Overall, a wonderful hotel and a fantastic experience. I will be back!